September 23rd 2015 – When our world falls apart.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28)

A father was trying to take his Sunday afternoon nap but having little success because his young son kept waking him up with the complaint, “Daddy, I’m bored.” The father knew he needed to come up with some kind of plan to keep the little boy occupied, or there would be no nap. He glanced at the newspaper lying on the coffee table and had what he thought was a brilliant plan to keep his son busy and give him more time to sleep.

The father picked up the paper and pointed to a picture of the world on the front page. “This is a picture of the world, but it is also a puzzle,” the father explained. He then ripped the picture into about fifty pieces, handed them to his young son and said, “I want you to put it all back together.” He lay down to finish his nap, thinking he would get at least another hour of sleep.

In about fifteen minutes, the little boy woke him up saying, “Daddy, I’ve got it finished. It’s all put together.” The father could not believe it. His son was too young to know much about geography. “How did you do that?” he asked in amazement. “Dad, there was a picture of a person on the back page of that newspaper, and when I got my person put together, the world looked fine.”

Pain can rip our lives apart. We frantically try to find some way to put it all back together, but the broken pieces don’t seem to fit anymore. What then?

Trust God. Like the children of Israel, just stick your toes in the water, and watch God part the raging sea before you.

You may not always understand or even like His process, but you can always trust His heart of love for you.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I choose to believe You are faithful and will do what You promise to do in Your Word. I believe that when I lay my pain and hurt at Your feet, You can and will transform it all into something beautiful. I choose to believe You will turn the broken places of my life into living illustrations of Your sufficiency and healing power. In Jesus’ name, Amen.